Feathered Tales
by Artemis Kath
Summary: A collection of short stories involving a slightly over-protective Spearow, a crazy Beedrill, their reckless young trainer and various other strange people and Pokemon living around Pewter City. Rated for language and violence.
1. Clipped Wings

The Beedrill tore through the air at the wild Pikachu, laughing like a maniac as the yellow rodent dove out of the way. That was Thrust, a long-time companion of mine. Well, not so much a companion as someone I put up with... and not so much long-time as the longest freaking month of my _life_. When he first joined up, he was a reckless little Weedle. Now he was, in his words, "The Tri-Stinging Bringer of Doom." I just called him a lunatic. The guy was far too violent. Unfortunately, our trainer mistook his borderline insanity as determination to be strong instead of what it was, a simple desire to inflict pain on everything in sight.

"You can do it, Rusty! Use fury swipes!" Chris called out from where he was standing below me.

Christopher was our trainer. I've known him for about a year, ever since he caught me. I had what some might call the honor of being his first catch... and his first Pokemon. Which was an odd combo for most trainers, who were handed their first ones. At least according to Chris. How did he manage it? Luck.

Before I met him, I had a lot of luck. Mostly bad luck. The day I went from being a free to the sky Spearow to a kid's first catch wasn't a pleasant one. Although I hadn't been part of a flock since I favored the single life, other Spearows that were felt the need to invite me into theirs or rough me up when I told them to get lost, or occasionally just because they were bored and knew I didn't have help. That day was a roughing-up-for-the-hell-of-it day.

Three of them came at me and I barely managed to get away. Once I did I was in bad shape and made my way to the nearest place I knew to find Oran Berries. A tough feat when you're covered beak to talon in scratches. I perched on a low branch and went for a berry, only to have it fall. That in itself wouldn't have been so bad, since I already felt like falling myself, getting to the ground wouldn't have been too difficult. However, the berry in question landed on the head of a Jolteon, who didn't take kindly to the accident.

Next thing I knew, I was awkwardly dodging thunderbolts and flying like mad in the direction furthest away from the crazy eon that was shouting something about being sick of berry bombardments. I broke through the edge of the trees and found myself soaring right into where the nearby human flock was set up... or Pewter City, as Chris later called it.

Not thinking much of it, I dove to the nearest house and dropped onto a short, wooden wall to rest since I wasn't being pursued by anything for the moment. Sadly, I had been more focused on what was behind me than what was around where I landed. I heard an energetic cry of "Intruder!" and didn't even have time to look before flames washed over me.

Screeching in both pain and shock, I took to the air in a vain attempt to put out the fire that was trying to roast me alive. I failed to look where I was going and slammed head-first into the invisible barrier that was Christopher's back door, which while putting the fire out, also put me out with it.

When I woke up I was in a place I'm now very familiar with, a Pokemon Center. A kid with short brown hair and worried expression was standing over me. Apparently he had caught me while I was twitching on the ground and rushed me to the center since his parents were both out. The nurse felt the need to mention I had almost died to him while in the room, which did not go over well for either of us. Granted, she was just trying to explain to him that rushing me straight in was the right thing to do... or something like that. I was a little too freaked out by the information at the time to pay attention.

After the pair of us calmed down, Chris began going on about what to call me. I tried to tell him I already had a name, but he couldn't understand me. Instead I had to settle for squawking my disapproval of stupid ones like Spear and Lance. He was still on the topic when his parents showed up. His Father, being a strange one, said something along the lines of "Catching a Pokemon heralds a new time in your life, son!"

At that, Chris got the idea to name me Herald. It didn't sound _that_ bad, so I kept my beak shut. Sadly, spelling never was Christopher's strong point, and when he registered the name he spelled it wrong. It was close enough, but the difference killed most of the meaning.

Once the nurse said I was back in "perfect health" I started my life with Chris. It wasn't that bad, to be honest. Not as bad as I thought being stuck with a trainer would be, at least. The company leaves something to be desired though. Like I said before, Rusty's a few berries short of a basket and I never did forgive Risp, the family Growlithe, for toasting me.

"No, Rusty!" Chris cried as Thrust was went spinning into a tree after taking the blunt of a well-placed thundershock. He landed on the ground and Chris looked up at me. "Harold! Your turn!"

I looked from the Pikachu to him, wondering if he was nuts. "You can't be serious. I go after Ratattas, not mice packing ten thousand volts in their ass."

"Come on, you can do it!" Chris urged, not understanding a word.

"I really wish you'd study type differences more seriously." I sighed, flying off my perch and diving at the Pikachu.

---

The next thing I knew I was regaining consciousness in the Pokemon Center. Again. A home away from home, that place. Thrust was laying next to me, and I could hear Chris in the next room talking to his Father.

"Come on Dad, let me borrow Risp! I'm never gonna catch a Pikachu with just Harold and Rusty." The young trainer pleaded.

"Sorry, but you've got to learn strategy, kiddo. A good trainer can overcome most challenges with his partners, as long as they trust each other and work well together." His Father advised.

"Not this again..." Chris groaned as his Dad started the what-it-takes-to-be-a-great-trainer lecture.

"If I ever find that Pikachu again, I'm going to tear it limb from freaking limb." An angry voice said.

I resisted the urge to sigh. So much for a few moments of peace. "Swearing revenge yet again, Thrust?"

"Damn right. I'm tired of being bested by damned rodents!" He buzzed. "You know what? Screw that Pikachu, I'm swearing vengeance on the whole species. Next one I see is getting my stinger down its fucking throat."

"Don't you think genocide is a little extreme?" I asked.

The question went unnoticed since he was now standing and stabbing at the air while shouting "Death to the Pikachu!" like the psychopath he was. I don't know why I bother trying to talk sense into him half the time.

Shortly after his little outburst, we left the center for the house. Christopher's Father continued his lecture through the whole trip... and then some. Once we were back home, he dragged Chris over to the TV and flipped on the channel that had trainer matches on twenty-four hours a day, pointing out little details about how to do things. Although from the look on the kid's face, he'd tuned out his old man a long time ago. Not that it discouraged the guy in the least.

I decided to just ignore them, flying over to the windowsill and staring outside. Risp was laying in the yard on his back, sound asleep. I was tempted to find something to drop on his head, but I didn't have a chance to look for a decent-sized rock before Thrust complained nearby and got my attention.

"Come on you idiot, that's not the way to do it!"

I glanced at the Beedrill sitting on the table by the window. He was watching the battle on TV, I think. It's hard to tell where exactly he's looking most of the time. "Are you going to try and offer advice on strategy, now? That'd be a laugh, considering your main approach is going in and stabbing until the opponent stops moving."

"It works. Well, most of the time. I mean on this, though! Look!" He waved a pointed arm at the television and I looked at the screen. A trainer with a Charizard was taking on one with a Wartortle and losing, badly. "Isn't the solution obvious?"

"Yeah, the fire-type should be swapped out." I said, before turning back to the window.

"No, no, no... the key in any trainer battle is just that, the trainer!" Thrust snapped. "Take that bastard out and the fight ends, yet I've never seen one of these idiots do it! How can they be so stupid?!"

"Please tell me you're joking... you can't attack a trainer in a battle!"

"Why not?"

"Because it's..." I thought for a moment, trying to figure it out. As much as I hate to admit it, the lunatic had a point. Going for the trainer straight up would end a fight pretty fast. Still, it didn't seem very fair. "...it's just against the rules, alright?"

"Who cares about rules? This is about winning." Thrust said, landing next to me. "You can't tell me you've never wanted to win a fight enough to throw your so-called morals away."

I glared at him, but couldn't help thinking of those three other Spearows that gave me hell regularly before Chris caught me. Taking them down mercilessly sounded enjoyable. More than I'd have liked. "Forget it. No attacking trainers." I said firmly. "Got it?"

"You're no fun at all." He sighed, thankfully buzzing off to watch the rest of the battle.

---

Doing my best to avoid both him and Risp for the rest of the evening resulted in a very peaceful night. I only wish I would have known what was coming the next day, I would have taken the time to find somewhere to sleep that was more hidden.

"Harold!" Chris yelled, startling me awake so badly I almost fell out of the small bed he had bought for me a long time ago. It was a good thing I didn't fall, since the bed in question was sitting on top of a very tall bookcase, though I did jump up far enough to bonk my head on the ceiling.

"Jumpy, aren't we?" Thrust chuckled, landing on the edge of the bookcase.

"Come on, get up and eat something! We've got a big day of searching ahead of us!" Chris said, before running out of the room.

I groaned, wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep after hearing that. "We're getting blasted by another Pikachu today, I take it?"

"Sadly, no. I'm not getting a chance for revenge today." Thrust grumbled. "Chris wants to chase a rumor instead."

"What sort of rumor?"

"Something about a rare pokemon in the forest. Sounds like a waste of time, to me."

I stretched my wings, yawning. "One Pokemon in a forest that size will be impossible to find. Not to mention all the other trainers that'll be after it."

"So you agree continuing to hunt down those furry yellow bastards is a better idea?"

"If that's the only other option, I'll go with the rare one. At least there's a chance _it_won't electrocute me." I said, flying off before Thrust decided to share his plan to wipe out every Pikachu in existence.

---

Breakfast was rushed, since Christopher was excited about heading into the forest. Luckily I had just enough time to finish eating while he tried to convince his Dad to let him borrow Risp again. Thankfully the answer was no, I didn't need two reckless idiots out there with me. After all, Risp is so quick on the ember attacks he'd probably burn down half the forest.

Five hours of wandering through the forest later, I thought Chris might have decided to give up. I should have known better, I've never known anyone as stubborn as him, human or pokemon. He started digging through the backpack of supplies he had brought while telling me and Thrust to look around the area before lunch.

I promptly flew off, glad to be away from the crazy Beedrill that had been singing to himself about stabbing Pikachus for the past couple of hours. Now that I thought about it, I might have been wrong about Chris being the most stubborn being I've met. Thrust really had a one-track mind.

Stopping on a branch and trying to spot whatever it was we were after, Chris never did mention anything specific, I heard a flurry of wings come up behind me. A pair of Spearows landed on each side of me and somehow, even after all this time, I knew what was coming.

"Well, well... look who's back." The one to my right said. "I thought we'd finished you off last time, but here you are with a trainer. Sad."

"I'd rather be stuck with him than you stooges." I replied, glaring at him. "Which reminds me, where's peon number three?"

The Spearow to my left chuckled. "Oh, he's making a point."

I did not like the sound of that. "What do you mean?"

"That trainers shouldn't be in this forest without some kind of protection."

Barely a second after he said it, Christopher screamed. I cursed and started to take flight, but the other two had known it was coming and reacted faster. They slammed into my sides and I almost landed head-first on the ground. I flew back up, but they had made sure to get between me and the path back to Chris.

They'd done this before when I lived in the forest, so I had an idea of what to expect. No matter which was around I'd try to go, they'd block me. With enough encounters, even idiots like these knew most of my tricks. Which meant I had to try something different. They were fighting dirty anyway, so I decided to borrow a tactic from the resident maniac.

Soaring forward as if I was going to fly between them, the duo moved in to block me. I veered to the right at the last second, directly at stooge number one. He wasn't expecting it and I was able to rake my talons along his wing twice. The Spearow let out a sharp cry and plummeted to the ground.

The other didn't take the action very well, slamming into my back and screeching before I could turn to go after him. This time I did hit something. A tree. I tumbled down to the roots and looked up in time to see stooge number two attempt to gouge my eyes out with his beak. He might have succeeded, if not for the sudden flash of yellow and red that slammed him into the tree trunk just above me.

A familiar, psychotic laugh came from the Beedrill that was now pinning the Spearow to the tree. His stingers were jammed through each of the bird's wings as well as his back. The blood running down the tree and lack of a struggle made me certain Thrust had just killed him. "You know, I've honestly never liked Spearows either. They always attacked me when I was a Weedle." He said, yanking his stingers out of the corpse. I hurried out of the way before it landed on me.

"Is Chris okay?" I asked, taking to the air and heading back to where we had split up.

Thrust followed after me. "Not even a thank you?"

"Gratitude can wait, what happened to Chris?"

"Some Spearow attacked him, so I impaled the bastard. Much like the one that was going after you." He said as our trainer came into view.

Christopher was sitting by a tree, awkwardly wrapping a bandage around his left arm. I noticed the end of three slashes down his arm as he covered them and I couldn't help feeling guilty about it. Those jerks had probably only attacked because I was with him, and if Thrust hadn't been around who knows how badly Chris could have been hurt.

The young trainer looked up and smiled, in spite of his injury. "Harold, you're okay! When Rusty bolted after we heard that screech, I thought you might have been hurt too."

"I don't know how you two made it without me." Thrust said, landing at Christopher's side.

I joined him. "Even a psychopath like you can be helpful, I suppose." I muttered, trying not to think about what could have happened. "You okay, Chris?"

"Don't worry about me, it's only a scratch." He replied, making sure the bandage was secure. "I guess it was a good thing Mom made me learn first aid after all."

"Holy crap, he understood you." Thrust said.

"No, that just happens sometimes." I pointed out as Chris reached into his backpack and pulled out a potion.

"Alright guys, where are you hurt?" He asked.

---

After our trainer finished healing us, mostly me, and having lunch we set out again. I tried telling him it was better to just go home since he got hurt, but since he couldn't understand a thing I said he just thought I was getting tired or something. A one-way language barrier can be really annoying.

We went the rest of the day without being attacked by anything that was a real threat, but we didn't find the rare Pokemon either. It was starting to get dark when Chris suggested we leave and try again tomorrow, that's when it happened. One improbable event that would make sleeping somewhere comfortable that night an impossibility. The rare Pokemon emerged from the bushes in front of us.

It was a Charmander. Why there was one in Viridian Forest of all places I'll never know, but Chris didn't seem to think about it. He just yelled "There it is!" and the thing tore in the other direction as fast as its little legs could take it.

We chased after it until the sun had set. Luckily Chris had brought along a flashlight and the Charmander's tail-flame made it so we could still follow after it, but I didn't want to get too far ahead and lose sight of Chris. Neither did Thrust, by the look of it. He kept speeding up and slowing down, as if arguing with himself about if he wanted to attack the Charmander or protect Chris more. Maybe his mind wasn't as one-tracked as I had thought.

Chris called Thrust back and told me to go ahead so I could slow the Charmander down. It may have had shorter legs, but it was able to get through shrubs a lot faster than Chris could. Not to mention I could see better in the dark than either of them. I sped off, caught a glimpse of a flickering light from up ahead, but suddenly lost track of it. I wasn't sure if it was the Charmander or not, but the way it seemed to just go out made me think it was someone else with a flashlight.

Landing a few feet away from where the light vanished, I found myself in a small clearing, facing a tent. The light I saw must have been from the camper inside. I flew up into the air and scanned the trees for any kind of light or movement. The only thing I saw was the shaking beam of Christopher's flashlight come into the clearing below. I noticed someone poke their head out of the tent and talk with Chris for a moment before my trainer ran off again. I dove down, rejoining him and Thrust.

After a few more minutes, Chris sighed, sitting down by a tree and opening his backpack. "We lost it... I can't believe we lost it."

"No kidding. Tracking something with a glowing rear in the dark should be easy." Thrust commented.

"Did you ever even wonder why a Charmander was in a forest in the first place?" I asked, dropping onto a branch above where they were sitting.

"Nope."

"I wonder if that was one of Professor Oak's Charmanders... I think he raises them for new trainers." Chris mumbled to himself, pulling a blanket out of his pack. "Maybe it's one that ran away."

"And now we know who's smarter down there." I said, keeping an eye out for any lights.

Thrust waited for Chris to get comfortable before dropping onto part of the cloth and laying down. "Forget being smart, as long as I can stab something I'm happy."

"Sorry guys, but we're gonna have to spend the night out here. I told Mom and Dad I might, so they shouldn't be too worried." Chris said as he leaned against the tree and closed his eyes. "Good night."

"You gonna sleep up there, Harold?" Thrust asked.

"No, I'm going to make sure nothing else comes after Chris while he's sleeping." I answered. The incident was still too fresh in my mind. Even if I was tired, getting to sleep with the thought of what-ifs drifting through my mind would probably just end with nightmares.

"In that case, wake me up later and we'll trade places. I don't want you half-asleep if something bad happens tomorrow. Sure, it'd mean more fun for me, but it'd be boring if nothing did happen and you were snoozing."

I glanced down at him. "I thought you didn't like Spearows."

"Don't like humans much either. You and Chris are the exceptions." He explained. "Be glad that's the case or I'd have skewered both of you by now."

I wasn't sure if he was joking or not. Something told me not... which made me worry even more, my mind offering unpleasant images of what would happen if Thrust snapped and decided to attack Chris. Something told me I wasn't going to get much sleep at that point.

---

"Wake up, Harold. Breakfast." I heard someone faintly say, feeling something push on my wing. Opening one eye, I saw Thrust nudging me with the side of one of his arm-stingers. "I think you blew guard duty, too. You were out cold when I woke up."

"Damn." I yawned, looking down at where Chris was setting out food. I was about to fly down when I saw something move in the distance. Blinking a couple times, I realized it was the Charmander. "Double damn. It's back."

"I'll tell Chris, you go after it." Thrust suggested. "I'm faster, so I'll catch up in no time."

"What a way to start the day." I complained, taking flight and heading in the Charmander's direction while trying to stay out of sight.

It wasn't in a hurry and seemed to just be wandering aimlessly. I got behind it and prepared to glide in silently and attack... that's when Thrust tore though the foliage at it.

"Don't kill it, you psycho!" I squawked quickly.

Thrust shifted his aim and the Charmander dove to the side. Dirt flew into the air as the Beedrill's stingers ripped through the ground where it had been standing. The Charmander started to flee, but a pokeball bounced off its head and it vanished in a flash of red light. The ball landed on the ground, twiched and popped open again before it could seal. The char ran off again after it reappeared, and Thrust flew after it.

Chris ran to get his pokeball and I followed beside him. "I guess it doesn't belong to anyone after all. Weird." He muttered to himself.

We chased after the thing for an hour or more, this time not losing track of it for more than a couple minutes at a time. Neither Thrust or I could get close enough to land a hit though, since it kept jumping through bushes to slow us down. I stupidly tried to dive through the shrub it did at one point, only to snag my foot and come rolling out the other side.

Thrust stayed right on its tail and even Chris ran by without noticing me on the ground. Shaking my head and trying to regain my balance, I hurried after them. When I finally caught up, it was at a break in the trees. A large building was in the middle with a dirt road that disappeared back into the trees on the other side.

Chris was sprinting down the road and yelling. "Rusty, stop! Come back here!"

The Beedrill was chasing after someone on a motorcycle and I thought I could see the Charmander's head in the sidecar. I was positive it was after a burst of fire flew up and engulfed Thrust, knocking him out of the sky. Chris sped toward him, but I couldn't help wondering if the psycho was actually planning to attack the human if he'd gotten close enough.

---

The building, which turned out to be a stop for campers heading into the forest from Viridian City, had a Pokemon Center that Thrust was treated at. Chris called his parents from one of the public phones to let them know where he was, and his Mother arrived an hour later to take us home. The drive back was relaxing compared to the trip on foot, even with his Mom's inital panic after seeing what happened to his arm.

Once we were back home, Chris was dragged off to the local clinic to have his arm looked at. Which left me alone in the house with Thrust and Risp since Christopher's Dad was still at work. I went to my favorite spot to rest, on the windowsill, and stared off into the distance, thinking. I didn't get much time to focus though, since Thrust landed next to me a moment later.

"You know..." He began. "...being set on fire is a lot like being eletrocuted. Only more external."

"I could have told you that." I said, glaring at Risp as he sniffed around the back fence, not even noticing us. Considering it for a moment, I decided to just ask. "Were you going to attack that human you were chasing?"

"You're the one that told me I couldn't attack trainers." He stated.

"That doesn't mean you'd actually listen to me." I said, looking at him. Not that it helped, reading expressions was next to impossible when dealing with a face like his. "What were you planning to do when you caught up to him?"

"Tell him to pull over... and when that didn't work, jam a stinger in his back tire."

"He probably would have gone out of control and crashed if you did that." I pointed out.

Thrust gave what I thought was a shrug. Again, it's hard to tell with him. "You said I couldn't attack trainers, you didn't say anything about their vehicles."

"Right." I mumbled, making a mental note to be very specific the next time I explain anything to him. "So who was it that drove off with the Charmander?"

"Some human. He called the Charmander by name, so he must have known it." Thrust said, tapping his stinger on the edge of the window. "It was a free one though, wasn't it? Why would it be with a human?"

"Good question." I muttered, pondering it for a minute but not coming up with any ideas. "I doubt we're going to find out anytime soon, though. If ever."

Thrust chuckled. "Oh well, back to everyday combat against the evil yellow bastards."

"After the attack in the forest, you think Chris will want to go back there?" I wondered.

"Those Spearows are dead, so what is there to worry about?"

"It might have been traumatic for Chris, being attacked out of the blue like that. Especially since... well..." I trailed off, turning my gaze to the ground.

Thrust seemed to understand what I was getting at. "See what thinking does? It makes you worry about nothing. Just because you're the same type of Pokemon that attacked Chris doesn't mean he'll be scared of you now." He assured me. "How long have you known him? A year? If he does get scared of you, he's an idiot."

He was probably right, and I felt a little better from hearing it. Thrust may have been a little on the crazy side, but maybe he was nicer than I thought. I'd rather have him as a friend than an enemy, at least. I've seen what happens to his enemies. It's not pretty. "Thanks, Rusty."

"Anytime. I'm always here for a pep-talk... or a slaughter."

"Of course."

A while later, Chris and his Mom came home. The scratches weren't deep enough to do any lasting damage and he could still move his arm with only a little pain. Plus since his left arm was the one that hurt, he'd still be able to throw pokeballs. Which meant we were headed right back into the Viridian Forest tomorrow to go on another Pikachu hunt. It's nice to have a routine, I admit... I just wish it didn't include daily electrocutions and trips to the Pokemon Center.


	2. Crimson Talons, Part 1

"Claw him! No, fool, he'll just dodge that! See?!" An angry voice buzzed. "Come on, you're twice his size! Tear the bastard in half!"

"You really enjoy these things, don't you?" A second, much lighter and more chipper voice laughed.

I just stared at the pair of them. The furious one shouting advice and cross words at the television was Thrust, a Beedrill who I affectionately referred to as a total flipping lunatic. Watching him wave his spiked arms in the air and swear loudly at the Pokemon battle tournament on TV that happened to be a repeat from last night did nothing to sway my opinion.

Next to him was an older human with short, brown hair wearing torn jeans and a purple shirt with "Potions are for the weak." printed across the front. That fellow was Amos. Considering he normally wore a suit and tie, he looked odd to me. He was on vacation from work for a couple weeks and had been spending a lot more time with his son, along with Thrust, Risp and I.

Risp, however, was lounging about in the backyard as usual. Not only because he enjoyed being outside, but because Amos' wife Ellen had practically forbidden the Growlithe from setting paw in the house anymore. There were still traces of the stain he had left on the living room carpet.

"Hey, Harold, why not join us over here?" Amos asked, looking over his shoulder at me.

"I can see fine from here." I replied from my spot on the windowsill. "Besides, getting close to Rusty when he's like that is just asking for trouble."

"Kill him you damn idiot!" Thrust snapped at the television.

Amos looked from me, to the Beedrill and back. "Right, Thrust is too hyper for you. I didn't think there were Spearows as laid back as you, Harry."

"I'm not laid back... and don't call me that." I complained, even though he couldn't understand me. He just laughed and turned back to the TV.

I glanced at the clock on the wall. Even though I could never remember how to read it exactly, my trainer Christopher usually arrived back home when the shorter stick was aiming down and to the right. At the moment it was pointing up and right. Which meant I still had more time than I'd like stuck with those two. Another cry from Thrust gave me enough motivation to fly off for some quiet.

Chris almost never kept me in a pokeball, so when nobody was home I usually flew around town for something to do. Unfortunately, there was a bit of chaos which resulted in my excursions being discovered. From that point on, I either had to be in the boring little ball more often or keep something on to prevent me from being mistaken for a wild Pokemon. The good part was Chris never considered the pokeball option, the bad was that now I had to wear a "cute" yellow ribbon around my neck. Sure it kept people from attacking or trying to catch me, but it also meant I could be identified when I was noticed doing things I probably shouldn't have been. Helping myself to the neighbor's berry garden, for example.

I was perching on the fence, eyeing the small patch of cheri berries and wondering if the beast next door was watching for me as it usually did. The place quiet enough. No movement from the windows, no sound from the house... it looked like the woman that lived there had gone out. If so, the little beast she kept on lookout for me was probably gone too. Sure, it might not have been a fire-breathing menace like Risp, but it still worried me.

Gliding into the yard silently, I landed so the plants were between me and the house. Once there I listened for any sign that someone had seen me. A few seconds of silence later and satisfied that I was safe for the moment, I stretched my neck out to eat one of the berries... only to get a beakful of fuzz as the blue beast lunged from the bush and tackled me to the ground. Feeling both of my wings pinned by its front legs and my body held down by the rest of it, I didn't try to fight back. Last time I did I just ended up sore and poisoned in addition to being held down.

"How many times to I have to tell you? Stealing the berries Tanya planted for me is a very bad idea." It said. "Though it does give me an excuse to jump you, and that's always fun."

"Yeah, it's thrilling." I said, not skimping on the sarcasm. "Are you going to call her now and get me in trouble or what?"

"Normally I would, but she went out a little while ago. I'll just have to keep you here until she gets back. Which will be about..." The weight on my chest shifted a bit as the little blue demon thought about how long I'd be stuck like this. "...two hours, maybe?"

"What?!" I squawked, whipping my head down to look at her. The little Nidoran just smiled and playfully bumped her head against the end of my beak.

"That's right, Harold. Unless you promise to stop stealing my berries, you're stuck with me sitting on you until my trainer gets home. I win either way."

I let my head drop back onto the ground and sighed. "I hate you so much, Rina."

"Then why do you let me catch you all the time?" She asked in a tone that might have been implying that I actually enjoyed her tackling me to the ground. If so, she was as nuts as Thrust.

"You're sneaky, that's how you constantly catch me. I only came here because I thought you and Tanya were out." I explained. "How was I supposed to know you were hiding in the bushes?"

Before she could answer, Risp let out a yelp. "Harold! Don't just drop out of the sky on me like that!"

I blinked, wondering what the Growlithe was talking about when Rina suddenly buried her face in my chest, I glanced down and resisted the urge to knock her off. "What are you-"

She pulled her head back up and sneezed. All over me. Lovely. "No, you're definitely Harold." She sniffed. "No mistaking that scent."

"I could have told you that."

"Then who-"

"Harold?" Risp said, getting her attention. "Why do you smell like... and this..." Panic grew in his tone as he went on. "Amos! Get out here!"

I heard the backdoor open and Amos' voice shortly after that. "Risp what are you howling a... Harold?! Risp, what happened here?!"

"Don't look at me! He just landed on my head!"

Rina quickly jumped off me and I rolled onto my feet, flying to the top of the fence to see what was happening. When I got there, I saw Amos, Risp and Thrust gathered around a Spearow that was laying on the ground. Its feathers had been stained red in places and it wasn't moving at all. It didn't take an expert to know the bird was dead, but Thrust pointed it out anyway. I should have said something straight away to let them know it wasn't me, but I was too fixated on the corpse to speak... or rather, on what it was wearing. A yellow ribbon around its neck. Much like my own.

"Harold, what's going on over there?" Rina asked, but the question didn't really register. I was too confused about why someone would do this.

Thrust was the first to notice me on the fence and hurried over, followed shortly by Risp and Amos. I'm not really clear on what happened from there. My mind was such a blur I don't even remember how I got back into the house. Resting on the arm of the couch by Amos, I heard him muttering on about how someone had a sick sense of humor.

I didn't believe it though. Something told me that it was more than just a joke. A threat maybe, or a warning. I just wondered who it was supposed to be aimed at. Chris might have been nice, but he didn't have many friends. Not to mention I had seen how cruel immature humans could get during a few of my trips around town. Thrust had attacked, and in a few cases killed, more than his share of other Pokemon. It wasn't much of a stretch to think he'd pissed off someone that held a grudge. Actually, I was on the receiving end of some angry looks myself. It was a Spearow, after all, maybe they chose that specifically to scare me. If they did, it worked.

Of course, regardless of who the target was, I was sure of one thing. Whoever did it was even more twisted than Thrust.


	3. Crimson Talons, Part 2

Chris arrived home sometime later and dropped onto the couch. By that time I'd straightened my thoughts out enough to notice something was wrong with him too. Usually the first words out of his mouth when he got home were "Harold, Rusty, you guys ready to catch a Pikachu today?" I don't know how many times he said it, but it almost always preceded a trip to the Pokemon Center and treatment for electrical burns. He only ever went straight to the couch when he had problems at school.

Amos must have noticed it too, giving his Son a smile. "Bad day, kiddo?"

Chris didn't say anything, he simply offered a slip of paper to his Father while keeping his eyes on the floor. My mind started on the worst possibilities straight away, but came to an abrupt stop when Amos chuckled after looking at it.

"Well, you know what this means, right?" He asked, folding the paper again.

"Yeah... I know." Chris sighed, getting up and heading to his bedroom.

With no explanation from Amos, who turned his attention to the television, I flew after Chris. I landed on top of his bookcase as he began to look through the titles.

"Sorry, Harold. No training today." He said, taking one of the thicker books. "My report card wasn't very good, so I gotta study. Stupid low english grade."

"That's all?" I wondered, relieved that it was something so simple. "I thought you got into a fight again or something."

"Oh yeah, we're going to have a special guest in class tomorrow. Anyone that has a Pokemon is allowed to bring one, so I thought I'd take you along. You've been there before for trainer classes before, so I know you'll stay put. Rusty would probably go nuts having to sit still for so long." He looked up at me and grinned. "We might even be able to get a rematch if Ashley brings Mace along."

There was a name that brought back memories. Ones I had almost forgotten. I winced, recalling how much pain I was in after our last little bout. "I can hardly wait." I muttered sarcastically, watching my trainer drop the book onto his desk. Knowing he was more focused on his work alone, I flew back into the living room and dropped onto my normal windowsill.

Risp was sitting just outside, waiting for me. "Harold, did you see what Amos did with the dead Spearow?"

"No, I wasn't really focused at the time." I said, making the irritation in my tone so obvious not even he could miss it.

Thrust landed next to me. "He wrapped it up in a cloth and took it somewhere."

"Aww, I wanted to get another sniff of it." The Growlithe whined.

"You're disgusting..." I muttered. I knew he was obsessed with scents, but that just didn't sound right.

"It's not like that. I thought I smelled something odd about it." He tilted his head, his right ear twitching. "I just can't figure out what."

"I'm more interested in who did it." Thrust buzzed. "Throwing a corpse over a fence, that's just stupid. If you've got a problem with someone you sting them head-on, not do shit like this! It's like those Trainers that rely on things like poison or sleep attacks! Fight fair, you cowardly bastards!"

I rolled my eyes at the lunatic. "Focus, Rusty. Amos hasn't gone anywhere, so it must still be around here."

"So we start looking for it?"

"Don't be stupid. We should wait until tonight, when everyone's sleeping." I said, glancing at Amos. "You know how they get when we start poking around."

"Right, right..." Thrust grumbled, tapping his stingers together impatiently. "...I just hope we end up getting to impale something."

"How many times do I have to remind you? No att-"

"No attacking humans. I know, I know. I hear that almost every day, like those damned jingles on television." He complained.

"Now I'm being compared to commercials... I think that's my cue to find some solitude." I said, getting ready to fly off when I remembered what happened earlier when I left. Then the idea didn't sound so good. "On second thought, I think I'll take a nap instead. Wake me when it's time for dinner."

---

That night, Rusty and I searched for the body of the Spearow, but weren't able to find it. We'd given up once it had started to get light out and went to bed. Unfortunately for me, I didn't get much time to rest between then and when Christopher's alarm went off. The morning, what I wasn't mostly asleep for, was pretty chaotic. Mainly because I was too tired to move and Chris was too stubborn to just put me in my pokeball.

I didn't fully wake up until we arrived at the school. Which was far too noisy to sleep at. I glared at the many loud young humans and Pokemon from my spot on Christopher's shoulder. Well, not directly on it, his Father had gotten him a special wooden protector-perch-thing so I could sit there without my talons digging into his arm.

"Hey, Chris!" A familiar voice shouted over the countless other ones, and Chris turned to face it so quickly I was almost tossed from my perch. A girl Chris' age came running over, her long black hair trailing behind her. "I see you brought Harold along again, who's looking grumpy as usual."

"Hard to be cheerful in these circumstances, kid." I muttered.

"Of course I brought him, we're itching for a rematch against you and Mace!" Chris said with such enthusiasm I had to tighten my grip again to keep from falling.

"I thought you'd say that. We're looking forward to it too, right Mace?" Ashley looked to her side, then to the other. "Mace?"

A Machop stumbled between a pair of students, bumping into Ashley before coming to a stop. "I'm here... I just don't know how you can move so fast in this place." He said, looking back the way he came. "I was almost stepped on a few times."

"There you are." Ashley grinned at him. "You need to get faster, Mace."

"Stepped on?" I wondered, staring at the Machop and mostly ignoring the humans who carried on their conversation. "You're only a head shorter than most of the students here."

"Height doesn't mean much when you trip over one of those bags and fall on your face." Mace grumbled, giving me an irritated look.

"Still a klutz. I can't believe I ever lost to you..." I sighed.

"I won due to superior fighting skills." He claimed, flexing his muscles.

"You won due to a fluke." I stated, actually starting to look forward to a rematch with the idiot. "It won't happen again."

Mace scowled. "You're all talk."

"Try me."

We exchanged threatening looks at each other until our trainers, who kept things much more civil between each other, parted ways. As we approached Chris' classroom things got quieter and I started getting tired again. The guest speaker Chris mentioned might have been worth listening to, but the last few times his school had one, they didn't turn up until after lunch. I could sleep through class without worrying, then. After all, it's not like they were trying to teach _me_.

---

The school's lunch bell woke me up, but the food's what kept me conscious. It wasn't that good, but since I had barely eaten breakfast I didn't really care. After we ate it was time for what Chris usually called his favorite part of school, aside from time to leave, recess.

Once we were outside, Chris suggested I get some exercise since it helped him feel better after being stuck in a classroom for so long. I didn't bother with the exercise, but I did head off to find a place to rest by the building where I hopefully wouldn't get hit with anything the humans were throwing or kicking around. A lot of the other Pokemon were out as well, some with their trainers and others, like me, off on their own.

I kept my attention on Chris, mind drifting to the dead Spearow again. If it was meant for him, it'd have to be someone that didn't like him. I could think of three kids like that straight away, but they weren't paying any attention to my trainer. They were with a few other students having a race with their Pokemon.

Giving them the benefit of the doubt for the moment, I looked back at Chris. When something suddenly wrapped loosely around my head, making my view go yellow.

A familiar and very cheerful voice soon followed. "Guess who!"

"A reckless, alley-dwelling rat?"

"That's just mean." The speaker pouted, removing my tail-blindfold. "We both know I'm too cute to be called a rat."

"I'll have to take your word for that." I said, glancing at the Pikachu. "I've been sent to the Pokemon Center so many times by your sort you all look like yellow harbingers of pain to me."

"C'mon, Harry. I've never hurt you, have I?"

"Not yet... and don't call me that." I turned back to watch Chris, who was talking to Ashley again. "Why are you here anyway, Kana? You're still free, aren't you?"

"Of course. If a trainer ever catches me, it'll be because I let them." She said, confident as always. It reminded me of myself, when I was still on my own. I never thought a trainer would get me, then I almost got killed along with captured. Hopefully she wouldn't end up in the same situation, but with an attitude like that...

"Is that why you're here? Looking for a suitable trainer?" I wondered.

"Something like that."

"Well, if you ever do want to get caught, try Chris. He's always trying to find a Pikachu and if you joined it'd mean not getting electrocuted every other day."

Kana giggled. "I'll keep that in mind. Now if you'll excuse me, I see someone else I should say hello to." She said, dashing off into a small crowd of Pokemon.

Watching her run off before turning my attention back to more important things, a ball hit the ground in front of me, making me jump in surprise and rethink the safety of my position. Giving Chris a quick glance, I flew off to the far corner of the school yard.

There were a few trees in that area to hide the old shed where they kept everything needed to keep the outside looking presentable. At least, that's what I guessed after seeing the front end of a lawnmower through the half-open door. I would have wondered why it wasn't locked, but the light snoring coming from inside made it pretty obvious the groundskeeper was taking a break.

I took a spot in one of the trees where I could see everyone. Chris was off with Ashley, reading a piece of paper. I didn't see Mace. Which I thought was odd at first, then figured he was mingling with other Pokemon or, more likely, had fallen on his face and was hidden in the crowd. What worried me was that I lost track of those three punks that had given Chris problems before.

I wasn't given a chance to find them again, either. A brief rustle of leaves was the only warning I got before something slammed into the back of my head. Everything went blurry as I fell from the branch, blacking out when I landed beak-first in the dirt.


	4. Crimson Talons, Part 3

I woke up somewhere cold and dark, my head pounding as I tried to get myself upright. The clang of metal echoed against my talons as they slid along the floor and close, curved walls made of tin. Not seeing a top to the place and guessing at where I was, I shoved against the wall and the whole thing went sideways. The bucket fell with a clash and I rolled out onto the wooden floor. Laying there for a moment to gather my senses, the little light coming through the gaps in the walls was enough for me to see after my eyes got used to it.

It wasn't hard to figure out where I was, I'd barely moved ten feet from where I landed. I was in the storage shed behind Christopher's school. Sore and stiff from a brink to the head and being left in that bucket, I took my time sliding over to the nearest crack in the wall and peering out. I didn't see anyone, but since it was now the middle of the night I'd have been surprised if I had.

My mind went straight to Chris. Was he okay? What did he do when I went missing? How the hell did nobody think to look in the shed when I did? The thought of why I was even still alive instead of dead the backyard like that other Spearow crossed my mind for a second, but I dismissed it since, quite frankly, I didn't give a rattata's ass. I knew I was okay and that was good enough until I made sure Chris was too, then I could worry about motives.

The door to the shed was closed and locked, not to mention none of the holes in the wall were big enough to squeeze through. At least not yet. I hooked my beak on the crack I was by and started tearing away the wood. Twenty or so minutes later, I realized it was going nowhere. By the time I made a gap big enough to fit through, it'd be morning and the groundskeeper would be coming around to open the shed, ruining my efforts.

Taking another look around, there was a small window with a single pane of glass resting in it. I could bash through, but the last thing I hit like that was Christopher's back door, and it didn't break at the time, I did. Even if I succeeded, the shards would slice me apart. Unlike Thrust, I knew not everything on that idiot box he watched was real, where people dive through those things like it's nothing. However, upon noticing what was leaning against the lawnmower and directly in front of the window, I knew it should have been my first choice.

I hurried over to the tool, placing my foot on the tilted row of prongs and pushing down. It swung up a ways, arched down, and the end of the rake's handle struck dead center of the window, smashing it to pieces. Thinking the classics might redeem my opinion of television after all, I took flight, soaring out the window and heading home with all the speed I could manage.

---

The house was dark when I got there, which made some sense considering it was probably past midnight. Stopping at a window on the side of the building, I peered into Chris's bedroom. His bed was empty. Feeling a twinge of panic, I looked up at the top of the bookshelf Thrust and I shared. He wasn't there either. Sure they were together and conflicted about whether I was happy Thrust was there to protect Chris or horrified my trainer was alone with a psycho Beedrill, I hurried around to the back window.

If not for my reflexes, I would have smacked right into the window. It was shut, which made no sense at all. Normally it was left open all night and I'd occasionally fly out to visit Kana or just take in the nightlife. Plus since I'd disappeared during the day, Chris should have left it open for when I came back. After all, he should know by now I'd never just up and ditch him.

Hovering above the yard and going over my options, a tired voice came from below me.

"Harold?"

I looked down at the Growlithe squinting up at me and, for once in my life, I was happy to see the little pyromaniac. "Risp! Thank goodness, do you-"

"You monster! How dare you come back here!" He shouted, his voice cracking before a torrent of flame swept from his mouth and straight at me.

Spiraling out of the way of the flames but still getting caught in the sheer heat of the attack, I let loose a string of foul language that even Thrust would have considered overkill as I dodged the next few blasts of fire. "What the hell is wrong with you, Risp?!"

"You!" He shouted between very potent ember attacks. "Now stop… so I… can roast you!"

Knowing reason was wasted on the young and hot-tempered, I darted over the fence and landed in one of the neighbor's trees out of Risp's view. He shouted a threat, telling me not to come back and I just sat there in shock. What the hell had happened when I was unconscious in that shed?

Something hit the tree by my head and I glanced at the small spike now wedged into the bark. It only took a second to realize what it was, but it wasn't enough time to avoid the second one. The poison pin dug into my chest and I lost my grip on the branch. Falling a couple feet and getting a good view of the Nidoran that hit me, I opened my wings and took off before I hit the ground. Another pair of spines flew by, just missing me as I flapped wildly to get away and out of Rina's strike range.

I couldn't even begin to understand why both of them just attacked out of the blue like that, and if my instincts were right I probably didn't want to know. Heading back toward the middle of town, things began to get blurry and my wings felt far too heavy. The pain from the poison pin in my chest started to become minor compared to the searing agony that began to spread through my body. I wasn't sure how far I fell, or where exactly I landed… all concrete feels the same when you crash on it.

---

"Come on, sit up and stop wobbling!" A muffled voice ordered. "Eat this."

I complied as best I could, feeling dazed and having no idea what was going on. Some part of my brain said listening might not be the smart thing to do, but the pounding drowned it out as something sweet and mushy was pushed into my mouth. The process was repeated a couple more times, my senses slowly coming back with each swallow.

Blinking a few times as my vision cleared, I stared at the yellow fuzzball holding a partially torn-apart pecha berry. "Kana? What happened?" I asked… or tried to, it came out as more of a gurgle since I still had a beakful of mutilated pecha.

She got the general idea though. "I don't know what happened to you, Harry. All I know is you rolled down my alley singed, poisoned and looking like you crawled out of a dumpster."

"Don't call me that." I mumbled, gulping down the berry. "And thanks, it would have been bad if someone else found me."

The Pikachu tilted her head, clearly concerned. "Why? Are you in trouble?"

"I don't know. Everyone's gone nuts in my opinion. Risp tried to fry me, Rina poisoned me… it's lucky I haven't run into Thrust yet or I'd be full of holes by now! Something really bad must have happened after recess." I glanced at her, just remembering. "Wait, you were there. When the students started to go back in, did you see Chris? Was he okay?"

Kana looked away, scratching her head. "Um… sorry, all humans look the same to me. Besides, I didn't stick around once they did that. It'd be too easy to get noticed."

"Right." I said, trying to get my legs moving and stumbling out of the cardboard box Kana called home before stretching my wings. "Thanks again for the help, but I have to get moving."

"It's the middle of the night, where could you possibly have to go?"

"I need to have a chat with someone who'll probably either clear everything up, or just try to kill me like everyone else has been tonight." I said, taking off and trying to remember how to get to Ashley's house.

---

I had to circle a few houses to be sure, but I finally found where Ashley lived. Checking the windows, both she and her parents were in bed and sound asleep. One thing I knew about Ashley was that Mace wasn't her only Pokemon, she also had a Meowth who had a taste for poultry. You can imagine how well the two of us get on. Luckily, because of that cat, there was also a flap built into the backdoor that was plenty large enough for me to slip through.

The other thing I knew about her, is that Mace once told me she put them into their pokeballs at night. Which meant I didn't have to worry about bumping into a killer kitty as I crept through the house and searched out Ashley's bedroom. When I found it, the door was cracked open and the extra glow from a nightlight showed me exactly what I was looking for. Hanging off the bedpost nearest to the door was a standard trainer belt with two pokeballs latched into place. Tugging the one at the end free, I hurried back out of the room and didn't stop until I was outside. If I was wrong about Mace being in that ball, I wanted to be able to fly away fast without having to worry about a ceiling.

Tapping the button twice, it popped open and a very groggy Machop appeared from a flash of crimson light. He sat on the ground, rubbing at one eye and yawning. "It's morning already, Ash?" He murmured, stopping when he caught sight of me.

I started to say something, but even half-asleep Mace can be really fast when the mood hits. I didn't even realize he'd moved until his hand wrapped around my throat.

"You…" He growled, fingers tightening enough so that I couldn't speak but could still, just barely, breathe. "What you did to me was bad enough, but Chris?! I've never seen Ashley cry so much in my life!"

Trying to choke out a question, all I managed was a strained gasping sound. What was I supposed to have done to him? What the hell happened to Chris?! I wanted to tell him to stop being such an idiot, let go and explain things more clearly, but no, he chose to add enough pressure on my neck to cut off my air completely so I couldn't even try.

Swinging my legs up, I sank my talons into his arm but he just put more strength into it instead of dropping me. At that point I didn't know if I was going to die from strangulation or a broken neck first. The world started to spin and my vision got blurry as I lashed my claws at Mace's arm again to no avail. It felt like my head was going to explode from the throbbing pain in my skull, and a moment later everything went white.


	5. Crimson Talons, Part 4

A loud crack that thankfully wasn't my neck preceded a rush of air into my lungs as I fell limply onto the ground. Mace cried out in pain, stumbling a bit and turning his back to me. A moment later he grunted, flew off his feet and slammed into the ground with apparently my only friend in the world right now standing on his chest.

"Touch him again and I'll leave you worse than paralyzed, bastard." Kana growled, before hopping off him and coming over to help me up. "I see your buddy there went with the trying to kill you option instead of the clearing things up one. What the hell is going on?"

"I really... wish... I knew." I wheezed, throat aching.

"You know damn well what you did!" Mace snapped, struggling against his paralysis to sit up. Once he did, I got a proper look at him since he wasn't trying to strangle me. All along his left arm and body were faint marks that seemed to be from recently healed cuts. The ones on his right were bleeding, since those were the few new ones I'd just put there.

"What happened to you?" I wondered, knowing he had to have been pretty beaten up for marks to be left after healing. They wouldn't scar, but traces like that would still remain for a day or so when the injuries were bad enough.

Mace glared at me. "You're what happened, you bloodthirsty psycho!"

I just stared blankly at him. "Me?"

"Our practice battle in class! You tried to rip my guts out!"

"I... tried to..." I thought back. There was no battling that I could recall. Usually when they did that sort of thing, it was at the end of the school day. I was out cold in a bucket at the time, which meant... some other Spearow was pretending to be me? What the hell? If it did this much damage to Mace in front of the other students, then... "You said something happened to Chris. What happened to him?"

"Like you don't know."

"Damn it, Mace! Now's not the time to be an idiotic pain in my tail!" I snapped, panic building. "Tell me what you think I did to him!"

His eyes narrowed. "After you mauled me and took off, Chris chased after you. Later, while I was in the Pokemon Center with Ashley, I heard her parents tell her that he was in the hospital. Apparently you turned on him along one of the sidewalks, forced him into the road and right in front of a car."

I felt sick after hearing that. Sweet Arceus... no wonder everyone was trying to kill me. I'd probably do the same in their position. There was also no doubt in my mind the feathers would fly if I got my talons on whatever Spearow bastard was impersonating me. Of course, there was time for vengeance once I knew Christopher's condition.

Kana was looking thoroughly confused about what was going on and Mace clearly wanted to renew his efforts to snap my neck, but at the moment I didn't care to try explaining things to either of them. All of my thoughts were on my trainer and neither of them could tell me what I wanted to know. Taking off, I ignored them as they both called out for me to wait, speeding off to Pewter hospital as fast as I could fly.

...

Even though I had no idea where to find him or if I even would, I went about searching the only way I could think to. I landed on every windowsill one by one and peered inside the hospital, hoping each time it was Christopher's room. I don't know how long it really took, but it felt like hours before I finally found it. The lights may have been off in the room, but the glow from the machines were enough to illuminate the Beedrill laying next to the person on the bed and Amos asleep in the chair next to it.

He was mostly covered by a blanket, so the only part of Chris I could see was his head, which had a bandage wrapped around it like a bandana. At that moment I didn't know if I was more sick or enraged at the thought of some Spearow impersonating me being the one that had done that to him. What made it worse was something I'd come to realize about humans during my time with them. They could barely tell Pokemon of the same species apart. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if Chris, like everyone else, thought I was responsible for his condition.

My heart sank and the sick feeling dominated at thinking my own trainer would believe I'd turned on him. If he did think that, there was no way I could convince him otherwise. It's not like I could explain things. Even the ones I _could_ communicate with have tried to kill me straight away. Except for Thrust, of course, but if I ran into him face-to-face... well, it'd probably be more face-to-stinger with him. Damn it all, I may not have been an ideal Pokemon, I did come to care about Chris and his family like they were my own. To lose them now... like this... the anger took over my thoughts. Even if I'd lost Christopher one way or another, I was going to figure out who did this and give them what they had coming.

A voice calling my name from below made me look down. Kana was by the building, and for some reason Mace was with her. With one last look at Chris, I flew down, landing on a dumpster so I'd be out of the Machop's easy reach if he decided to try and strangle me again. "What are you two doing here?"

"I was worried. Not sure about him, he just followed me after I hopped the fence." Kana said, swinging her tail in Mace's direction.

I glanced at Mace, skeptical. "You hopped a fence too? I find that hard to believe since you can't even walk down a hallway without tripping.

He glared at me. "I can get around fine."

Kana shook her head. "Oh please, you punched a hole in it. Anyway, how's your trainer doing?"

"Hard to tell through a window." I muttered, looking up at Christopher's room window. For a second I thought I saw movement up there, but I wrote it off as just being my imagination or a mistake. My thoughts weren't very clear at the moment thanks to my emotions and earlier blow to the head, so I doubted my eyes were any clearer than my mind.

"You should have some idea, since you're the one that-" The end of Mace's remark that may have resulted in him getting a few more scratches was cut short, by the resounding crack of Kana's tail lashing across his face. Most tail whips were cute... Kana was stronger than she looked and had perfected hers to nothing less than a firm slap. They stung too, I know from having been on the receiving end of a couple.

"Keep that attitude and I'll give you a charge you won't be waking up anytime soon from. Got it?" She snapped at him, making him move a couple wary paces back as he rubbed his face. Once the Pikachu was sure he'd stay quiet, she turned back to me. "Look, Harry, I'm sure you're not the type to do something like that, even if calm Spearows seem to be few and far between. Can you think of anyone that would, though?"

"Don't call me that." I told her more out of habit than anything, since it never did any good. "Yes I can. The problem is, I can think of too many people and Pokemon that have a problem with either Chris, Thrust or myself. Although... Mace, the Spearow with Chris that attacked you, was it wearing a ribbon like mine?"

"Of course you were wearing that dumb thing." He replied coldly, still unconvinced of my innocence. Kana gave him a dirty look, but I knew he was just dense anyway. Probably from the klutz landing on his face one too many times.

Even so, the piece of info got me thinking. Two Spearows meant to fool everyone else, one dead for scares, one alive to attack everyone around and ruin my reputation. I was the only one of those three around both times. Whoever was doing this was after me. They had to be. What the _hell_ could I have done to warrant this kind of revenge though?

Kana leapt onto the dumpster by me. "Harold, what is it? Did you think of something?"

"No. I mean, not really. I'm pretty sure they're out to get me, but I... I can't think of anything I've done that was _really_ bad." I said, sifting through my memories. Chris and I had caused some trouble together, sure, but I continued to draw a blank as to who would to this or why.

"Harold." Mace spoke up, interrupting my thoughts.

"What?" I snapped, expecting another irritating comment from him.

He stepped back, looking nervous all of a sudden, though I think that was more because of an ill-tempered Pikachu giving him the evil eye than my reaction. "Look, I just wondered what you- I mean the other you-" He corrected himself quickly when a crackle of electricity arced between Kana's ears. "-meant by what you- he- what was said right before trying to actually rip my face off."

I tilted my head at him. "You'll have to be more specific, since I wasn't there."

"Right." Mace sighed. "Near the end, after you thrashed me up pretty badly, I asked how anyone that acted so idle most of the time could turn that vicious in a practice fight. You answered, and I quote; 'Simple, Aces are wild!' then proceeded to dive and tear into me like a psychopath."

"We keep telling you, it wasn't him." Kana reminded him firmly.

I honestly didn't care what he thought anymore. My blood had run cold after hearing that phrase. Aces are wild... I knew it all too well. I'd said it more times than I can count, but every one of those times was before I'd even _met_ Chris. Back when I was free, younger and actually thought it sounded cool. Not to mention going by the name Ace, which had been discarded after my capture. It was all I needed to hear to drop almost everyone off the suspect list. Almost.

"That's it." I murmured subconsciously. "I know who's doing this."

"What? Who?" Kana asked, but I'd already taken off. "Wait! Where are you going!"

"To find the one that did this and then tear his fucking throat out!" I called back, heading for the Viridian Forest. I knew who had to have been the one behind it. I wasn't positive about the why, but that didn't matter to me at the moment. If I really wanted to know, I could find out while tearing bits off him.

Halfway between the hospital and forest, as I tried to think of where I could find him, I caught an odd sound over the combined pounding of my heart, head and wings. Like a neon sign's hum, though I wasn't passing anywhere near one. Wait, not really a hum, more of a... a buzz. I glanced back. My first thoughts were far from eloquent, but fit the situation. _Oh, shit._

A Beedrill was pursuing me. Before he'd even shouted for me to stop, I knew it was Thrust. He must have seen me when I looked in the window, thanks to his freaky eyes that seemed to look everywhere at once and never close. Though it was impossible to tell when he was asleep or not, I thought the fact that he didn't move at all when I'd been looking in meant he'd been dozing. Figures I'd make a mistake about something like that.

Flying as hard as I could toward the forest, some part of me knew it was useless. I might have been able to lose him in the trees since I was better at maneuvering, but his sheer speed put me at a disadvantage when it came to straight shots like he had at me now. Even if it didn't stop me from trying. The sound of buzzing grew louder until I was over the field between Pewter and Viridian, then ended the second Rusty got me within stinger's reach.


End file.
